Christmas Sermon – 12/25/2014

Merry Christmas everyone – thank you all for coming

Tonight is a holy night – it is the night we celebrate the beginning of the incarnation – Births are miraculous in and of themselves yet tonight we celebrate how much God loves us – That means we celebrate the moment when the God of all creation entered in a very human relationship with each and every one of us – God gave us the Gift of the life of Jesus – that we could to relate to God as we relate to each other – and at the end that is what Jesus asked us to do – to love each other as he loves us

We heard the story of how Mary and Joseph after traveling found no room at the Inn – well that Inn is a symbol for each of us sometimes because sometimes we don’t have enough room for God in our lives – This story speaks to the humbleness of God – of God relating to the poorest among us – God did not enter the world as a prince among men in a mansion or castle – worldly trappings pale beside the love of a mother and father for their new born – The Christmas story in Luke sets the stage for us – here is a person we all can relate to – even the poorest of the poor

Christmas is a time when families gather together – it traditionally is a time – along with Easter when people come to services with their families – there is something spiritual in the middle of Winter about gathering and connecting – as a culture we have set aside places such as this church to give thanks and celebrations – If you’re here just for Christmas – welcome – I’d like to ask you though to come back some non-Christmas day to share with us a spiritual journey – a walk of faith that renews every year with that wonderful notion of God being with us

I know throughout the years people’s lives fill up and there is less room for the spiritual – Churches compete with so much – from sports to entertainment – I hope that if you do decide to join us that you are not afraid to think – to question because the faith journey we walk here is human – comes with conflicting messages at times – makes us relook at what it means to be in relationship with each other and the divine – all this is a way of saying there is room for you here

There is room for God and your lives – that at some level is the message behind this Christmas story too – though there was no room in the Inn – God came anyway – and you came too – to this service so I’d like to invite you come back – we care for you – we really do

When we open ourselves to the possibility – just the possibility that on a night long ago – in a land far away divinity came crying into the world – When we open ourselves to miracles – we begin to see them – and God’s love for the world is made visible in our love for one another

Now you are here with your friends and families – and you come to celebrate the mystery of Jesus’ birth – you come to celebrate the gifts you’ve been given and the gifts you will and do share with each other – take joy in your sharing – the angels rejoice with you

We’ve grown a lot of traditions and customs around this holiday – this holy day – We would like to be able to share this spirit and love with you all throughout the year and not just on this one night – for the love and mystery which is lit in our hearts this Christmas – feeds the hungry throughout the year – in Trumbull and Bridgeport – the love and mystery we celebrate here this Christmas says I’m sorry when we’ve wronged another – and you’re forgiven when we’ve been wronged

The baby who only reached for his mother’s breast taught us to turn to the truth that we are all connected one to each other – through the love and grace of God and that from the least of us – the smallest of new babies to the sick and the lame God loves us all person to person – and when we know that – feel that – we enter God’s kingdom – though it be perhaps only a manger on a starry night – perhaps our own living rooms as we gather together – perhaps tonight in a shelter somewhere – the Kingdom of God draws near – because God so loves us – because of the incarnation – Jesus – baby Jesus – growing Jesus – healing and preaching Jesus – because of the life and death of this man long ago – we today can feel the love of God personally in our own lives and in the lives of our families – in the lives of the whole world – Merry Christmas